January 24, 2015
Denise Hisey
Facing Fear, Personal Growth, Recovery
abuse survivor, emotional strength, facing fear, finding freedom, healing, personal growth, recovery, Transformation, truth
***On a blog sabbatical until July 2015***
Keeping secrets, not telling. The truth was strangled in my throat for so many years.
Once I became strong enough to tell my truth to one, then another, I found increasing healing and empowerment in my words. Getting the awfulness out in the open helped make the darkness flee.
Over time, telling my truth to safe people strengthened me to be able to speak my truth to anyone -even if they didn’t believe me.
Starting this blog nearly 3 years ago has been such an incredibly important part of me speaking truth in a whole new way. Recently, I’ve discovered More
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November 2, 2014
Denise Hisey
Family, Personal Growth
Family, first day of kindergarten, Growing up in Alaska, personal growth, School Memories
I recently jotted down some memories of my school days in Alaska where the entire school K-12 was about 100 students. Boys routinely brought guns to school for after-school hunting, the basketball team flew to other villages every weekend to compete, being white meant I was a minority, and so much more that used to seem normal to me. I thought I’d share some of these memories with you today. I’d love to hear about your unusual school days, too!

My hometown. Yes that’s the whole town.
Our kindergarten class went to the community library building and all I remember was watching Sesame Street. Our family didn’t have TV and it was a novelty to me. Big Bird was quite mesmerizing! I also remember going to the ‘big school’ down the street and visiting the first grade class. That was exciting! I couldn’t wait to start school.
Though I was thrilled to be in school, first grade is very vague for me. About all I remember is liking my teacher, Mrs. Randazzo.
Mrs. Knapp entered my life for second grade. She was the most magnificent and wonderful person I knew. I simply adored her. She always had a smile and she always made me feel special and smart. All these years later, she told me I was one of four second graders in that class that could read. It explained why I remember being called on to read the script below the silent films we watched sometimes. She had a reading corner with lots of books and cards you could mark off when you finished a book. I couldn’t get enough of reading, I think mostly because she gave me lots of praise and encouragement.

Lynne & Me
2nd grade
July 4th parade
Third and fourth grades were with Mrs. O’Donnell. She was a spitfire and didn’t settle for any nonsense. Tammy was a year older than me and I remember the two of them getting tangled up one time. It wasn’t pretty. Tammy bit Mrs. O’Donnell and all hell broke loose. More
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October 22, 2014
Denise Hisey
Facing Fear, Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma
abuse survivor, childhood trauma, emotional strength, Facing Adversity, finding freedom, getting help, healing, Mental Health, personal growth, recovery, Transformation, truth
With Halloween around the corner, ghoulish decorations are beginning to pop up alongside gargantuan pumpkins, bumpy gourds, and colorful leaves.
A plastic skeleton swinging in the wind recently reminded me of the saying about keeping skeletons in the closet.
My closet is no stranger to skeletons. Some have represented things done to me, others symbolized things I’ve done. Shame and fear were the hinges on my closet doors. Strong and secure, they kept my secrets tucked in the dark.
Or so I thought. More
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October 5, 2014
Denise Hisey
Facing Fear, Family, Personal Growth
Bucket List, Facing Adversity, facing fear, Pacific Crest Trail, PCT, personal growth, Transformation
My daughter’s epic summer journey on the PCT ended on September 9th. She hiked from the Columbia River, at the Bridge of the Gods, to Manning Provincial Park in British Columbia. It was done in sections, two alone, one with her husband, and one with her dad.

At the Columbia River, Oregon/Washington Border

Canada Border 507 miles
I dropped her and her Dad off at Stevens Pass on August 26th.
They saw 9 bears between there and the next time I resupplied them at Rainy Pass. More
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September 2, 2014
Denise Hisey
Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma
Blogging, emotional strength, finding freedom, getting help, gratitude, healing, Joe Pote, Lori Lara, Mental Health, personal growth, PTSD, recovery, Spiritual Journey, The Presents of Presence, Transformation, truth
When I started my road to recovery, I felt incredibly alone. My circle of friends at that time were not interested in things like feeling pain, speaking truth, or self-reflection. Who could blame us, really?
I had myself tightly knit with people who lived in denial, thus allowing me the freedom to do the same. I didn’t even realize the cocoon I lived in until I took several steps away. It felt natural, and safe. Little did I know just how wrong I was…
Joining the blogging community has been such a completely different experience. I’ve found so many people who are interested in growth and healing of all sorts. Some from physical issues, others from emotional, mental, or spiritual ones. My own journey of healing and recovery was catapulted with the discovery of such a rich world of genuinely caring and tremendous people.
There are several such bloggers I’d love to highlight on this ‘blog hop’ I’m on, but today I’ve narrowed it down to two, plus a thank-you for the invitation to join in The Hop.
As part of The Hop, I’ll also answer 4 burning questions at the end! 😉
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August 27, 2014
Denise Hisey
Family, Personal Growth
Bucket List, Facing Adversity, facing fear, gratitude, motherhood, Pacific Crest Trail, personal growth, Transformation
My daughter’s hike on the Pacific Crest Trail continues…and I am more amazed at her tenacity every day. I’m so grateful she has a GPS device that allows her to send messages in addition to ‘pinging’ her location when she has service. She has been faithful to let us know where she is each day, and we’ve seen her about once a week when she crosses into civilization and we resupply her.
She’s grubby and hungry when she walks off the trail, and we’re sure glad to see her!

After a 26 mile day near Mt. Rainier

She craves fresh fruit the most!

Grubby Tootsies!
She hit mile 325 when she made it to Steven’s Pass over the weekend. We picked her up there and brought her home for a 36 hour rest and resupply. She’s done about 275 miles alone, meeting some interesting characters along the way. Her husband did a stretch between Mt. Rainier and Snoqualmie Pass with her. They experienced rain, thunder, lightening, hail, and a new forest fire! More
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August 7, 2014
Denise Hisey
Facing Fear, Personal Growth, Recovery, Trauma
abuse survivor, childhood trauma, emotional strength, Facing Adversity, facing fear, finding freedom, Forgiveness, getting help, gratitude, healing, Letting Go, personal growth, PTSD, recovery, Spiritual Journey, Struggle to Forgive, Suicidal, Transformation, trauma, truth, wearing masks
Feeling better seems to be a universal goal of humankind.
When we’re experiencing physical, emotional, or spiritual pain, the instinct to feel better can take on a life of its own. Most of us don’t even realize our subconscious is in overdrive doing whatever it takes to avoid bad feelings.
The problem is this: what makes us feel better usually isn’t what makes us get better.
Feeling Better More
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